


the things that I do

by yeswayappianway



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magic, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-13
Updated: 2018-03-13
Packaged: 2019-03-30 17:54:20
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,360
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13956915
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yeswayappianway/pseuds/yeswayappianway
Summary: So, yeah, Luc can feel the team’s injuries. It’s not all bad; he’s also healing them a little. That’s why he can feel it—magic always has a price, and it turns out that the price for healing is to take on some of the pain yourself. Luc personally thinks it’s kind of a shit deal, since it’s not like he asked for this, but he’s grateful that it can help the team a little.





	the things that I do

**Author's Note:**

  * For [couldaughter](https://archiveofourown.org/users/couldaughter/gifts).



> for the prompt "Luc has latent healing magic which takes on fractional amounts of the team's injuries. While this is initially not a huge problem, as the season runs on and the injuries pile up, Luc starts to struggle with the aches and pains. Zach, from a long line of wizard minders, takes it upon himself to sort out Luc's problem. With sex magic? You decide." which i mostly stuck with. i hope you enjoy!
> 
> other people that show up very briefly but i didn't feel like were worth tagging: Josh Anderson, Lukas Sedlak, Sonny Milano, Brandon Dubinsky, David Savard
> 
> title from I'm On Fire, by Bruce Springsteen
> 
> thank you to Hailey and Aimee for beta-ing this!!

This is fucking stupid, Luc decides. He’s _on the team_ , why is he sneaking around on Reddit reading injury speculation when he can just, like, ask someone? He sighs and flops back onto the couch. It’s just fucking annoying, okay? Like, you can’t just ask, hey, I know your ankle is fucked up, but do you know how long, because it’s starting to get really old feeling it try to roll every time I turn a certain way on the ice. Or, Luc guesses, he could probably, but he doesn’t really want to get into the whole ‘I can feel the team’s injuries’ thing with everyone.

So, yeah, Luc can feel the team’s injuries. It’s not all bad; he’s also healing them a little. That’s why he can feel it—magic always has a price (he can still hear his second grade teacher saying that over and over), and it turns out that the price for healing is to take on some of the pain yourself. Luc personally thinks it’s kind of a shit deal, since it’s not like he _asked_ for this, it’s just a thing his family can do, but he’s grateful that it can help the team a little. Even if no one knows about it except management and Torts. And also some of the trainers. Oh, and maybe Fligs? Luc thinks for a second, and decides he should maybe commit to either telling everyone or not telling quite this many people. But, he thinks a little bitterly, none of this would be a problem if there weren’t so many people fucking injured at the same time.

Just then, Luc’s back twinges, as if to reinforce what he’s thinking. He thinks about texting Wenny to ask if he needs anything, but that would break the whole ‘not telling people about magic healing pain’ thing, plus he can’t be completely sure it’s not someone else. The problem with latent magic like his is that it doesn’t read the IR list. He can usually contain it to the team easily enough, but it doesn’t discriminate between kinds of pain. If someone is hurt bad enough that taking part of their pain would make them heal quicker, well, Luc’s just stuck with it. When he thinks about it that way, he kind of wants to cry, though, so he doesn’t. Usually.

Luc’s got a lot of practice ignoring what his body is telling him. It’s only made him a better hockey player.

\-----

Sometimes knowing what your teammates are feeling is a little too hard to ignore. A bunch of them are over at Zach’s apartment, because apparently, now that he has furniture, he feels obligated to actually let people come over. Right now, they’re supposedly watching a movie, but mostly watching Josh try to throw popcorn into Sedsy’s mouth. Luc’s a little distracted, because he can feel Sonny’s side killing him as he shifts to try and sit in a better position. Sonny’s not usually trying to be quiet, but he is right now, and that plus the strain in Luc’s side, tells him how bad it must be right now. Luc gets up to get water from the kitchen. On the way back, he grabs a pillow off an empty chair, and casually drops it in Sonny’s lap as he walks by. Sonny looks after him, and he’s probably confused, but Luc just ignores him and goes back to his seat at the other end of the couch. The ache spikes a little, and then calms. Sonny’s got the pillow stuffed behind him, keeping him from twisting into the couch. Luc gets a little warm glow in his chest.

Then he gets hit in the side of the head with a popcorn kernel, and all his vague pride disappears in the face of retaliation. When he glares down at the rest of the couch, everyone is laughing—except Zach, who’s doing his ‘I am a robot and have no emotions’ impression a little more aggressively than usual. Luc narrows his eyes.

“What?” Zach says.

Luc glares some more. “I’m watching you,” he grumps. Josh laughs at him. Zach just looks back, not giving anything away. Luc forces himself to look away before it becomes just staring at Zach’s face. Honestly, he does that often enough for other reasons, no point in doing it now, when everyone can see.

\-----

Luc pays pretty close attention to his teammates’ injuries, for obvious reasons, but there seems to be something that’s gone unaccounted for a while now. He’s been trying to pay attention to everyone else, notice if anyone’s reacting to things that shouldn’t be there, but nothing’s come up—until now. It’s not much, just Zach wincing a little at a drill he’s usually great at, and then a few days later, walking a little weird as they go into the arena. Luc’s not as good as he maybe should be at identifying pain he has, but in his defense, when it’s lessened and diffused by whatever magic transfers it to him, it’s harder to place than his own injuries. The point is, he wasn’t sure if the pain was in his hip or his leg, but after seeing how Zach’s moving, he’s pretty sure it’s Zach’s hip. Which sucks majorly, because they really need Zach healthy, and hips are hard to fix. Also, he probably wouldn’t have noticed if he hadn’t been accidentally watching Zach again, but at least now he has an excuse. Luc might have a little bit of a crush, but he’s trying to forget about it. And regardless, the injury seems real.

The thing is, Luc still doesn’t know what to do about this. Zach hasn’t said anything about being injured, and yeah, sure, Luc should probably tell the team about his whole _thing_ at some point, but he just…doesn’t wanna do it now. There’s no particular reason other than that Luc is nervous about how it will go. He’s not the only person who has magical family traits, and the team is pretty great about everything in general, so he knows he should just get over himself and tell at least some of the guys, but he hasn’t, and here he is. 

“You okay, kid?” Luc looks up to see Dubi looking mildly concerned at him. Oh. Right. He seems to be the last one sitting on the bus, and Luc hurriedly grabs his stuff and rushes off, trying not to look at Dubi. Fuck, he thought he was done with this embarrassing rookie shit. And Dubi wasn’t even giving him shit, so he must have looked really bad. Luc nearly stumbles stepping down onto the ground, and he curses. Fucking shit-- Luc doesn’t even remember whose ankle injury this is, but he’s just—tired. _And it’s only January_ , Luc thinks morosely. He’s gonna have to find some way to keep going through this. But, like, maybe people will stop getting injured. That’d be nice.

\-----

Luc smiles tightly at Wenny as they leave the locker room. He just needs to make it out of the arena and back to Savvy’s so he can go hide in his bedroom, that’s all. Luc knows that’s a fucking shitty response but he just can’t handle it tonight. Not only have people not come back, but now everyone else is injured too.

“Fuck,” Luc hisses. He looks around to make sure no one heard, but the pain in his shoulder makes him reconsider. Maybe he should stop by the trainers real quick. They already know what’s going on with him, though they don’t really know how to deal with it. Luc doesn’t blame them. It’s hard to treat an injury that he doesn’t actually have. And it’s not like it’s really that bad; the guys who actually do have the injuries are way worse off. Still, it might not be a bad idea, since he’s still at the arena.

When he walks into the trainers’ rooms, he nearly runs into Zach.

“Oh, sorry. I wasn’t looking,” he mutters.

Zach shrugs. “No worries. Everything alright?” he asks, looking over Luc quickly.

Luc’s really glad he’s already flushed from playing a game. He’s been doing better at ignoring his mini-crush on Zach, but his shirt’s very tight, and Luc’s standing really close to him, and Zach’s got a little bit of a worried frown and it’s all just—a lot. Luc takes a step back. “Yeah, no, I’m good.”

Apparently, he doesn’t sound as convincing as he really wanted, because Zach’s still frowning a bit. “Why are you going to see the trainers, then?”

Right. That. Luc opens his mouth, not really sure what he’s going to say, and what comes out is the truth. “Do you know anyone who has, like…weird family traits?”

Zach looks confused now. “Uh, what do you mean? Like genetics and shit?”

“No, like magic and shit. Or maybe genetics too? But the magic, that’s the important part.”

Weirdly enough, instead of making Zach look even more confused, that seems to clear things up for him. His eyes get wide. “Oh fuck, it’s _you_ ,” he breathes. Now it’s Luc’s turn to be confused.

“Uh…what’s me?” Luc asks. He’s not sure how this conversation went so differently than what he expected, especially since he didn’t mean to have it in the first place.

“I knew someone on the team had some sort of natural magic effect, but I couldn’t figure out who it was. I thought maybe it was Bread, since he’s new, and I probably wouldn’t know if he did,” Zach explains, but Luc’s caught on something.

“Wait, you can sense magic?”

Zach looks sheepish now, but one of the trainers shows up behind him and says, “PL? Was there something you needed?”

“I’ll wait for you; we can talk over dinner,” Zach says, and then slips past him out the door.

\-----

“So, uh,” Luc begins, not sure where he’s going. They finished dinner already, and Zach isn’t really looking at him, just studying his empty plate with a look of concentration. “Are we gonna…actually talk?”

Zach sighs, and he says, “Yeah. Sorry, it’s not an easy thing to tell people.” Then he does finally make eye contact, and Luc thinks he notices him wince a little. “But, I guess you’re in the same boat.”

“Pretty much,” Luc agrees. He waits a second to see if Zach will add anything else, and when nothing happens, he decides he might as well do this. “Healing magic runs in my family. I think basically all of us have it, it just works a little differently for everyone. I can heal people around me a little, by taking on part of their injury, or whatever, myself. It used to be a lot more—messy, but I’m pretty good at limiting who it affects now.” 

Luc’s not sure if he’s rambling now, but it’s been a long time since he’s really explained this to anyone who wasn’t, like, team management. And they all sort of knew about it anyway. He can feel his heart beating quickly in his chest, and Luc wishes he didn’t have to deal with this. Being a rookie in the NHL is hard enough. 

“It’s fine, I’m used to it and everything; it’s just been a lot lately, so that’s what I was seeing the trainers for.”

Frowning, Zach asks, “Does that help? If it’s magically transferred to you, it’s not like you can actually treat the injury on yourself.” He looks kind of worried, and Luc gets a little warm feeling in his chest at the idea of Zach worrying about him. Then he realizes he actually has to answer.

“Oh, uh, I mean, it’s not great, but they can help me with my own stuff so that I’m dealing with less,” Luc realizes it’s not actually an explanation but, honestly, he doesn’t quite get it either. Magic is weird. Speaking of which, “So you can see magic? What’s up with that?”

Zach still looks concerned, but he says, “I can’t see it, it’s more of a feeling? But yeah, I can sense magic. It’s not very useful most of the time, because I mostly pick up on building wards and lots of other shit that’s too vague to identify, but I’ve noticed something magical affecting the team all season, and I had it narrowed down to someone else on the team causing it. I didn’t even really think it might be you, though,” Zach admits, and he shrugs a little self-consciously.

“That’s really cool, though,” Luc says enthusiastically. His whole family has a very narrow focus on magic, and he knows way more about healing magic of all kinds than he’s ever wanted to, but he’s always thought about other kinds of magic with a longing interest. Imagine actually being able to do things on purpose, that’d be awesome.

The corner of Zach’s mouth quirks up. “I guess so. I hated it as a kid because I had to do, like, magic classes outside of school, but now that I know what’s going on, I like it a lot better.”

“So do you just feel magic? Or can you actually, like, do spells?” It’s pretty uncommon for people to have innate magical abilities, and almost everyone who performs magic had to learn it. That’s one of the big reasons Luc doesn’t like telling people about his healing, they expect him to do other things too, and he can’t.

“Uh, yes and no?” says Zach, waving his hand back and forth in the air. “Technically, yeah, I guess, but I haven’t practiced for a few years, and I was never great at any spellwork. I skipped a lot of lessons for hockey,” he says, and Luc laughs.

There’s quiet for a little while, before Luc says, “I’m glad you told me. I’ve been kind of freaking out about telling anyone about me, and I, uh, I feel better now.”

Luc isn’t sure what exactly the face Zach is making means, but he’s guessing it’s conflicted somehow. Zach looks at him for a moment, and then asks, “How bad is it? I know we’ve all been injured a lot, so that’s got to suck. Do you go to the trainers for help a lot?”

“Um. No. I mostly just…deal with it?” Luc says, quietly. He’s not sure how to feel about this. He’s supposed to be strong, right, it’s hockey. But at the same time, he’s a rookie, and everyone expects him to struggle in his first year, especially as it goes on. And everyone’s right, the NHL season is so much fucking harder than it was in the Q. There’s just—more. Of everything. And Luc loves it, he wouldn’t trade it for the world, but it is a lot.

Zach looks determined. “I’ll figure something out. I bet I can find something that can help you out.”

“You could stop playing through an injury,” Luc says without thinking, and Zach draws back. He actually looks angry for once, and Luc already regrets saying it.

“What? No, fuck you. You don’t get to tell me what to do. It’s not your business what I do with my own body,” Zach says, and where Luc first thought he was mad, he thinks maybe it’s more defensive than actual anger. He wonders if someone else has said this to Zach, maybe more than one person.

Luc doesn’t want to back down, though. He’s not wrong. “Hey, I get it, I would probably do it too. But the quicker everyone lets their injuries heal, the less I have to deal with.” It looks like Zach is going to argue more, his eyebrows drawing together, and Luc doesn’t want to deal with it. “If you think you can come up with something to help, I’m up for whatever,” he tells him.

Zach raises an eyebrow, and Luc blushes a little. He didn’t mean it that way ( _but it’s true_ , he thinks).

Sighing, Zach says, “I’ll see what I can come up with. Do you need a ride back to Savvy’s?”

“Well, you drove me here, so yeah,” Luc says, a little bewildered.

“Oh. Right.” Zach stands up, and they walk out to his car.

In the car, Zach says quietly, “I’m, uh, I’m glad you told me, too. It’s good to not have to keep this all to myself.” Luc just nods, not sure what else to say.

When he gets back inside the house, Savvy gives him a look, and says, “Have a nice date with Z?”

Luc blushes so hard he can actually feel it, and he escapes to another room before he can say anything stupid like, ‘no, but I wish I did.’

\-----

They’re on the end of a road trip when Zach suddenly appears next to Luc. He’s not really sure how Zach manages that, but Zach says, softly, “I think I found something we can use to help you with your problem. I’ll let you know, but I think I can get supplies for it this weekend.” Luc nods, and intends to say more, but Zach has walked ahead of him now, and Luc figures it can wait.

Zach’s good on his word, and that weekend, he tells Luc to come over to his apartment tomorrow. Luc’s not really sure what to expect—the only spells he’s seen worked were prosperity spells at weddings, and shit like that—so he spends the next day nervously thinking about it. 

The nerves haven’t gone away when he shows up at Zach’s the next evening. Zach answers the door holding a paper bag that looks full and maybe a little wet around the bottom, which isn’t doing anything to help Luc’s worries.

“Don’t worry, it won’t hurt too badly,” Zach says, and Luc flinches. He doesn’t know why he’s so nervous about this. He’s a hockey player, he’s in the NHL at 19, he can handle a little magic. Probably. 

“Now, there might be some side effects, so if you can’t see, or if you feel a cold hand on your back, or something whispers in your ear in a weird language, just let me know,” says Zach, very matter-of-fact. 

Luc is suddenly a lot more worried, but when he turns back to look at Zach, he realizes. Zach’s got his most bland, ‘I’ve never had an interesting thought in my life’ expression, and Luc’s willing to admit to himself that he’s a little gullible, but Zach is _definitely_ fucking with him right now.

“You’re full of shit,” Luc says, and is pleased when Zach smiles a little.

“Yeah, but what’s the point of doing weird magic rituals if I can’t freak you out with them?” Zach asks. Luc just shakes his head, knowing he’s probably smiling like an idiot. He blames growing up around hockey for how much he feels at home with people teasing him.

“So, what we’re actually doing is pretty simple, but I do think it might take a while. I’m going to finish mixing up a salve and then I’m going to use it to paint some symbols on you, and once it takes effect, the idea is that it will act as a magical barrier between you and the rest of us. It’s not quite what the spell is originally supposed to do, but I think it should work.” Zach’s narrating as he works, pulling out some herbs from the bag and mixing them into a large bowl already sitting on the counter. Luc comes over, peers into the bowl, and then perches on one of the stools.

Zach consults the iPad he has sitting next to the bowl, and adds a sprinkle of a clear liquid that smells a little like some kind of flower. “Where’d you find out about this ritual?” Luc asks, curious.

“I asked my aunt,” Zach says distractedly. He keeps mixing the contents of the bowl. “She’s the person I know with the most experience working spells, and she’s got all kinds of books at her house, so she sent me pictures of the rituals she thought might work, and I combined two of them.”

That’s actually really impressive, or at least Luc thinks so. He doesn’t know much about spellwork, but like, it’s not just following instructions, so it’s gotta be harder that way.

“Okay,” Zach announces. “I think this is ready to go. Now, the sigils have to go on your skin for them to be most effective, plus it might be a little messy, so you probably want to take your shirt off.” Luc tries really, really hard not to think about any other situation he would be stripping in front of Zach, and takes off his shirt. He doesn’t look directly at Zach, who grabs the bowl, and walks around the counter to stand behind Luc. “I’m going to start on your back, okay?”

His voice is calm, but the mixture is cold against Luc’s bare skin as Zach gently smears some down Luc’s spine with his finger. Luc can’t tell what exactly he’s drawing, but it feels like one large intricate design across the back of his shoulders.

It turns out Zach is actually really good at this. He’s gentle with Luc, still talking through exactly what he’s doing, explaining how the ingredients in the mixture work together and where the sigils he’s tracing on Luc come from. Luc was worried he’d get bored and fidgety just sitting still, but Zach’s voice is kind of soothing, and his hands are steady. He can feel the completed symbols drying on his skin, and it kind of feels almost meditative.

Or it would, if Luc could stop freaking out internally about the fact that Zach’s touching him and Luc’s shirt is off and it feels terribly intimate to him. He knows this is just the ritual, but Zach is slowly drawing what feels like a spiral on Luc’s side and Luc wants, desperately, to have this in a different context. He feels a little like he might combust, or float out of his skin.

Then Zach moves around to his front, puts the bowl back down, and the contrast between the mystery of the ritual and Zach’s shitty, worn-through Red Wings shirt he pretends he doesn’t wear anymore makes Luc feel a little more grounded. He closes his eyes as Zach starts on his chest, not talking anymore.

Luc’s not sure how much longer it goes on, because he completely loses track of time, but Zach says, roughly, “Almost done, just need to do a little on your face. Open your eyes.” Luc looks up at him, and he doesn’t know what his face is doing, because at this point, he’s half out of it, but Zach swallows hard.

He paints a symbol over both of Luc’s cheekbones, and finishes with one on his forehead. It takes Luc two tries to say anything, because the first time, his voice just doesn’t come out, but he jokes, “Simba…” and Zach smiles a little.

“Okay,” Zach says, stepping away and checking his iPad. He clears his throat, and Luc wonders suddenly if maybe he wasn’t the only one affected by that whole experience. “I think you need to leave these on overnight, so you can stay in the guest room if you want. I can put some old crappy sheets on the bed, and that way you don’t get the salve all over anything important.”

Luc doesn’t want to try and explain this to—anyone, actually, so he agrees. He doesn’t have anything with him, but it’s one night, he can deal with it. It’s a little early, but Luc’s in a strange mood, and he figures he can get away with just going to bed. He’s supposed to be tired and sore anyway, and he is.

As he’s falling asleep, though, all Luc can think about is the feeling of Zach’s steady hands all over him.

\-----

When Luc wakes up the next morning, after a quick moment of panic before he remembers where he is, he feels…okay? Not great, he still has all the usual aches, but not any worse than it has been. He pulls his t-shirt on gingerly over the symbols, some of which have obviously flaked off on the bed a little, and walks out of the guest room. Zach’s in the kitchen, and he offers Luc breakfast.

“Did you sleep okay?” Zach asks. Luc isn’t sure if it’s politeness or a genuine question, and Zach’s face gives him no clues. He just shrugs, and tells Zach he’d love some breakfast. They eat quietly, neither of them making any attempt at conversation. When they’re cleaning up, Zach says, “It should be fine to wash the sigils off now. If you want to take a shower here, go for it. Everything’s done, it’s just a matter of waiting to see if the spell takes effect.”

Luc still doesn’t want to deal with explaining this whole thing to Savvy and his family, or anyone else he might see, so he decides to go ahead and take a shower. He can’t keep his mind off the fact that it’s Zach’s shower, and he just keeps fucking remembering Zach’s hands on him last night, and unfortunately his dick doesn’t listen to any logical reasons it should just chill out. It’s a very frustrating shower altogether.

Which, to be fair, might be why he’s not paying attention when he leaves the bathroom, and runs straight into Zach. Zach looks a little shocked, probably because he just got run into, and he just kind of—stands there for a second? Luc feels the completely irrational desire to try and cover himself, since he’s only wearing a towel, but he ignores it. The longer the moment stretches out, the more Luc feels like an idiot, but then his brain decides to finally wake up for the day, and he has a moment of clarity.

Zach’s only, like, a year older than him, and he’s also still standing there, just kind of looking at Luc, his mouth slightly open. Luc remembers, Zach’s face as he looked down at Luc at the end of the ritual. Maybe Luc’s not the only one not handling this very well. Luc looks at Zach. They’re close enough together that Luc’s really noticing that he and Zach are almost the same size. Which is kind of hot.

Luc’s gonna blame this on—leftover magic, or something, fuck, he doesn’t know, the moment of clarity is definitely gone now. He kisses Zach, no thought in his head beyond that he wants to.

Zach seems surprised, but his hands come up to Luc’s sides and it reminds Luc of last night. He breaks away quickly and stutters, “Uh, sorry…if I made it weird or anything.” Zach actually bursts into laughter.

“I spent all night painting ritual symbols on your chest, but yeah, a little making out is what’s gonna be weird.”

“Is making out an option?” Luc says eagerly, and then wants to hide in the bathroom when his brain catches up with what he just said.

Luckily, Zach smiles and says, “Yeah, but you should probably go home and get ready for practice first.” And then he leans in and presses a kiss to the corner of Luc’s mouth. “Seriously, don’t be late,” he says, waving his hands at Luc a little ineffectively.

Luc goes to put his clothes back on, feeling triumphant and a little embarrassed.

\-----

Practice goes well. Luc isn’t late, which is always a good start, and he can still feel all the aches he’s been keeping track of, but none of them are quite as present as they have been recently. When they’re in the locker room afterwards, he quietly tells Zach that, and Zach looks pleased.

They’re walking out when Zach says, “The real test will be someone getting injured, but hopefully we won’t have that anytime soon. Probably we’ll be able to tell after next game, because I assume you feel big hits, and shit like that, right?”

Luc does, although he’s gotten so good at tuning it out that he doesn’t notice them most nights, so he just nods. He sort of wants to ask about if making out is still an option, but that would definitely be weird. He just stays quiet.

\-----

Zach texts him that night. Luc’s sent some transparent texts in his life, but Zach’s “hey you up to anything” is pretty far up there. Luc waits a few minutes, debating with himself if it will seem too excited to text back right away, but finally gives up and texts back. Zach responds quickly, asking if he wants to come over, which makes Luc feel a lot better about the whole ‘seeming too excited’ thing.

When Luc shows up at Zach’s, he’s a little jittery, which is his excuse for the first thing out of his mouth being, “Does this count as a booty call?”

Shrugging, Zach says, “Well, you wanted to make out, right?” Luc almost trips over his own feet following Zach into the living room. Zach sits down on the couch and Luc realizes that he looks a little—uneasy, maybe.

“Do _you_ want to?” he asks Zach, hesitating. Luc really doesn’t want to fuck this up.

Zach looks even more uncomfortable now, like maybe he doesn’t want to talk about this either, but he says, “Yeah, I think you’re hot, and it’s been a while since I hooked up with a guy. I kind of miss it,” he adds. “Is that weird?” Zach asks, and it’s one of the few times that Luc can remember that he’s really sounded unsure.

Luc shakes his head. “No, that’s not weird. I get it,” and he manages to not add anything embarrassing on to that, so he’s doing better than when he got here at least.

“Also, did I mention you’re hot? Because it’s really distracting sometimes,” says Zach and Luc’s honestly never felt so validated. Like, damn, what a confidence boost. It’s also enough that Luc feels a little more steady, on solid ground now that he knows for sure that this isn’t just him. He walks over to Zach, and settles himself on Zach’s lap. Zach’s sharply drawn breath is loud when Luc is as close as he is now, and he leans in to kiss Zach. His lips are dry, but he’s kissing back just as intensely. Zach’s hand comes up to rest on Luc’s neck. Luc’s really enjoying the feeling of Zach’s legs shifting minutely under his, and he threads his fingers through Zach’s hair, trying to keep them connected at as many points as possible.

After a few minutes, Luc decides he kind of wants to blow Zach. He has no idea what Zach thinks he’s done with guys before, but in his experience, most dudes are really surprised the first time you get down on your knees to suck their dick. So, he pulls away from Zach, who looks really appealingly messy, climbs off his lap, and kneels down in front of him. Zach’s eyes go wide, and Luc actually feels pretty on top of things. It’s a nice feeling, and knowing that Zach is watching him, completely focused, is fucking hot.

Luc winks (and probably also blushes, but at least that’s normal during sex), and slips his hands into the waistband of Zach’s sweats. He’s not wearing underwear, which makes it easy for Luc to pull his dick out (and also, he notes absentmindedly, means this was definitely a booty call). Luc ducks his head down, taking the tip of Zach’s cock in his mouth. Zach shudders, and sort of grabs at his shoulder. Look, Luc’s not saying he’s amazing at blowjobs or anything, but he likes giving them, and Zach’s obviously pretty wound up, because he comes pretty fucking soon. He feels smug about it, especially when Zach just kind of flops back into the couch and stares.

“Jesus, if I’d known, I would have hit on you way earlier,” Zach says, and Luc grins, even more smugly. Zach just kind of sits for a few more moments, and Luc is just about to start getting restless—he refuses to come in his pants tonight, because that would be just way too embarrassing—when Zach shakes his head like he’s waking up. “What do you want?” he asks.

Luc remembers the feel of Zach’s hands on his bare skin, and imagines them all over him. He’s trying to figure out how to say that, his blowjob-related confidence not helping with this, and when Zach suggests, “Bedroom?” Luc nods eagerly.

Zach stands up, stretching a little and adjusting his sweatpants so his dick isn’t hanging out. He reaches a hand down to Luc, pulling him up off of his knees. He steps around him, his hand trailing around Luc, which makes Luc shudder this time, and Zach leads him into the bedroom.

When they get in there, Zach stops and turns back to Luc, ending up chest to chest again. Luc feels a little bit of deja vu with stepping out of the bathroom—Christ, was it only this morning? This time, though, Zach mutters, “Fuck, you’re big,” and sort of awkwardly pats him, like maybe he isn’t sure what to do with his hand.

Laughing, Luc feels less weird again, more sure of himself with every bit of evidence that Zach is at least somewhat as much of a mess as he is with this whole thing. Luc decides they’re both wearing way too much clothing, and figures he might as well start fixing this. He takes his shirt off, and feeling daring, lies back on the bed. Leaning back on one elbow, he looks over at Zach. “I’m all yours.”

After looking at him for a long moment, Zach strips off his own shirt and steps out of his pants. He walks over to the bed, and climbs up to kneel over Luc. Luc swallows. The sight of Zach completely naked and leaning over him is—a lot. Zach runs his hands all over Luc’s chest, and Luc shudders again. This time, though, Zach notices. “Yeah?” he asks. “You like that?”

Luc nods helplessly, not sure he could speak right now. Zach’s hands are so big and so steady, again, and it’s easy for Luc to just focus on that and lose track of everything else. Zach’s hands don’t ever leave his body, except when he sits back and unzips Luc’s jeans to pull them off along with his underwear, but even then, Zach goes right back to dragging his hands all over Luc’s body. After some unknown length of time, Zach starts pressing kisses all over him, too, and that’s even better. Luc doesn’t know what he expected Zach would be like in bed, because he’d tried really hard not to think about it until last night, but this wasn’t it. And then Zach bites his shoulder lightly, and Luc arches into it, the contrast between everything so overwhelming.

Finally, one of Zach’s hands wraps around Luc’s cock and Luc feels a little like every inch of his whole body is a live wire, but at the same time, he’s not sure he can actually feel anything other than where Zach’s hand is stroking him firmly. Luc comes soon afterwards.

They just lie there for a while, Luc trying to get his brain to work again, and Zach seeming like he might fall asleep. Once he’s relatively sure he can form words correctly, he asks, tentatively, “Can I stay here tonight?” Zach kind of shakes himself, forcing his eyes open.

“Of course. You didn’t think I was gonna kick you out, did you?”

Luc doesn’t know what he thought, really, and he says, “Just seemed polite to ask.”

Zach’s face is a little more expressive than usual, and he’s got sort of a soft smile going on when he teases, “Such a good Canadian boy.” Luc reaches out and flicks his ear. Laughing, Zach kind of wiggles over to him. They’re not exactly cuddling, just tucked next to each other, but it’s nice, and Luc feels himself getting comfortable and sleepy.

\-----

It’s warm when Luc wakes up, and he can see bright sunlight coming in through the blinds when he groggily opens his eyes. Zach’s still asleep, so Luc slides out of bed, trying to be quiet. He searches around Zach’s bathroom for an extra toothbrush, and finds one under the sink. After he brushes his teeth and splashes some water on his face, he sneaks back into the bedroom to grab his boxers and put them back on. His stomach growls, and Luc heads out to the kitchen to start poking around.

Zach comes out to the kitchen a few minutes later, when Luc has managed to make himself toast semi-competently. Zach’s walking a little stiffly. “What’s wrong?” Luc asks. Zach winces a little, like maybe he didn’t want Luc to notice.

“Nothing, just my hip. It’s a little stiff.”

It’s way too early for Luc to have a filter, so what comes out of his mouth is, “I knew it!” immediately followed by, “Sorry, that sucks. Did you need to, like, stretch it or something last night?” Zach doesn’t answer right away, just studying Luc, like he’s waiting for something. Luc realizes—

“Oh shit! I can’t feel it! Fuck yeah,” and Luc stretches, twisting at the waist the way that’s been bothering him for the last few weeks, and there’s nothing.

Zach is openly grinning even as he deadpans, “Wow, thanks for the sympathy,” and sits down heavily in one of his chairs.

“Fuck, Zach, sorry, that’s awful, but it worked!”

Now Zach looks pleased and maybe a little smug—it’s a good look on him, which Luc already knew. What he didn’t know, until now, is the quirk of Zach’s mouth as he says, “Still no sympathy? Damn, you’re harsh. It’s okay, I can think of some ways you can make it up to me.”

Luc grins back at him. Yeah, he’s sure he can.

**Author's Note:**

> you can also find me at steelinstories on twitter or topcopbobrovsky on tumblr


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